Post-Concert Review: James Morrison live @ Singapore's Esplanade concert hall, 2 Oct 2012

 

My October’s definitely got off with English swag, in the form of one of the UK’s darling lads, singer-songwriter Mr James Morrison. I was completely sold when I watched him ‘live’ for the very first time at the recording of MTV Sessions in April (and when I didn’t care much about his songs before that).

Therefore, I nary batted an eyelid at the slightly outrageous ticket price for his first official gig here in Singapore, that which costs close to $200 for front-row seats.  Mind you, it is the most expensive concert ticket for me for a single artiste yet. But hey, y'all know that saying, 'You can't (really) put a price on art...'

Gig run-downs:

-          Following a quick minute’s long of instrumental introduction by his touring band,  James Morrison walked onstage with a brief wave and took his position at the mic stand in the center. He then flashed a nervous grin and was like, ‘Alright people, let’s do this!’ .

-          He started off his set to a determinedly cheery showing with Beautiful Life, a song off his latest The Awakening album.  I didn’t think it strange then (probably because I’d expected it, having looked through online the setlist for his previous show in Indonesia) but looking back, it seems a tad odd to choose it as an opener. Normally, artistes would choose an oft-played single for their first song of the night (or at least, an insanely catchy  earworm from their latest album), to get the crowd pumped and all.

        Well, Mr Morrison got the crowd amped a tiny notch. The fact that he launched into This Boy (still not a single, and this time, a song taken from his debut album from ages ago) did not help to up the crowd’s anticipation level, and whose reaction at that point was – to politely make teeny head-nodding movements.

-          Me? Don’t mind me, but I’m simply a JM girl and was in a goopy place, where I was literally just lying back in my cushy chair, and being all ‘in the zone’. Haha.

-          The songs which followed for the first half of his set were his career-defining, impassioned ballads like (in setlist playing order) I Won’t Let You Go- I presently heart this song more than ever, what with Jason Mraz’s spring hit I Won’t Give Up seeping into our consciousness this year, Up- where James did duet this time (which he mistakenly chose not to at the MTV gig) with his worthy diva-licious of a backup vocalist, and Broken Strings- where he did not drastically change keys (like he did for the MTV Sessions) during the Nelly Furtado parts and which he performed very divinely unplugged at our acoustic-friendly Esplanade that night. Once James got those ‘impress-the-hearts-out of my mostly virgin audience in this posh venue’ segment out of the way, he was ready to PAR-TAY.

 

  ^As you can see from the video above, it seemed like James couldn’t wait to put the moves on us after he finished his Most Sensitive Song of The Night, by declaring, ‘ok, no more of this laziness, I want you people to get (yo heavy bums) off your seats.’ *cue folks squealing and springing to their feet* :D

-          Morrison then shook off his hindering acoustic guitar for songs like Slave To The Music- I do reckon a jolly fun ‘live’ song to hear and sing back along to, and which James was thrusting his pelvis to while belting into his mic (can he help it, with the MJ-like ‘Whoo Hoos’ in there?), I’m A Man- where the music vibe of the gig suddenly got into a weird place oweing to the loudness and gaudy macho feel of this Spencer Davis Group cover. But all in good fun though. This was when James kept running all over the stage and sliding on his knees and acting all rock-starish. I love James, don’t get me wrong, but I found it just that bit bizarre, because, James had on  long cottony snuggly sleeves, and casual skater kicks that night (unlike at his MTV gig where he was decked out in heavy, stylish denim)- attire more suited for, i dont't know, a chilled night out playing pool?? 

-          This was also when, major grouse here, the sound kept getting worse and worse. I couldn’t hear the instruments properly on the speakers anymore and the drums became really ‘bare’ and stinkingly overpowering (like the raw-ness of when a band is jamming in the studios). Needless to say, James' voice was kinda drowned out by the band and this continued till the end of the night. It felt like I was suddenly transported to a pub or something. This unfortunate sound problem may actually be due to my location of being front-row because when I watched videos of people who were on the floors on top, the sound seemed to sound like how it should- resounding and musically proper. However, I’ve also been told that when too many instruments come on, the sounds do get distorted at the esplanade. This sound phenomenon explanation probably rings true because when I was at the Ingrid Michaelson unplugged gig at this same Esplanade venue 3 weeks ago, the music and vocals were in a word, heavenly.

       This fugly sound effect reminds me of when I was at the Kris Allen gig too, a couple of years ago (and which I will upload vids on my Youtube channel again when I have the time), where the sound was pretty darn bad-ffling as well, but the audience then rationalised because he was merely playing at a night club (Zirca).

Concert verdict:

Wellll, I guess you can’t fault a performer who’s such a crowd pleaser. And one thing I commend about performers like James Morrison, he genuinely looked like he was ardently having the time of his life the entire time. Heck, he even did the classic ‘soccer victory match’ gesture while exiting off the stage after his encore, by, lifting his shirt and pulling it over his face, while doing the rocker pose like so:

 

The concert length was ok, running slightly more than an hour and a half. However, it felt like James was trying really hard to affect the audience (probably because the seats are situated so near the stage and it was a packed house), and in the process, he didn’t (or could have forgotten?) to banter with the audience, which numbered roughly 1,500 in total that Tuesday night.

It would have been nice, if the setlist had included more of his older songs. I know this is called The Awakening Tour in support of his latest album, but, it’s his first official show in this part of our shores, and, it’s probably safe to say that many in the audience are fans, you know? Also, half the songs on his setlist were the same as his MTV Sessions recording, so can you blame this girl if she expected more variance?

All in all, a very well-oiled and put together band (many of whom have played for James Morrison for years). Till the next tour, mates!


PS: Thinking of covering one of James' hits this week. Check back soon for update, if any. ;)